Bottle carrier



E. B. MORGAN BOTTLE CARRIER Nov. 4, 1952 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 Filed Dec. 15, 1948 INVENTOR. Erving 3. Morgan Wash-446M dfi'vmezy Nov. 4, 1952 E. B. MORGAN 2,616,600

BOTTLE CARRIER Filed Dec. 15, 1948 2 SHEETSSHEET 2 INVENTOR.

Patented Nov. 4, 1952 BOTTLE CARRIER Erving B. Morgan, Grand Rapids, Mich, assignor to American Seating Company, Grand Rapids, Mich., a corporation of New Jersey Application December 15, 1948, Serial No. 65,412

6 Claims.

The present invention relates to bottle carriers and more particularly to the type of bottle carrier in which severalusually six-bottles of soft drink may be easily carried.

The primary objects of the invention are to provide a bottle carrier of the type indicated which may be quickly and economically fabricated from a single metal sheet; to provide such a bottle carrier which is sturdy in construction and durable; to provide such a bottle carrier which is adaptable for stacking with others of its kind; to provide such a bottle carrier which may readily be grasped and removed from a stack thereof; to provide such a bottle carrier which may be completely fabricated except for the final operation, thus forming a blank which may quickly be transformed into a completed bottle carrier by manually performing said final operation, and which blank may be nested with others of its kind for compactness and ease of handling in shipping and storage, and in general to provide such a bottle carrier which is convenient and durable in use, reasonably economical in manufacture, and attractive in appearance.

An illustrative embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the bottle carrier with bottles disposed therein;

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view of the same taken on line 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a side elevational view of several bottle carriers stacked one upon another and side by side, some of said carriers being shown fragmentarily;

Figure 4 is a view partly in side elevation and partly in central longitudinal vertical section, as indicated by the section line 44 of Figure 5, of several bottle carrier blanks nested together;

Figure 5 is a top plan view of one of the bottle carrier blanks; and

Figure 6 is a fragmentary perspective view illustrating the method of transforming a bottle carrier blank into a completed bottle carrier.

Referring now in detail to these drawings, the bottle carrier blank illustrated in Figures 4 and 5 is fabricated from a single, unitary, elongated metal sheet which has been sheared, pierced and formed to provide a transverse medial bight II) which serves as the handle of the completed carrier as seen in Figure 1-3, portions II extending symmetrically obliquely outwardly from the opposite sides of the bight III which form the upwardly-inwardly extending upper side walls of the completed carrier, portions I2 extending symmetrically outwardly from the upper side wall portions I I respectively which form the upwardlyoutwardly extending lower side walls of the completed carrier, and bottom sections I3 extending symmetrically and reversely obliquely outwardly from the lower side wall portions I2 2 I i respectively which bottom sections I3 together form the bottom of the completed carrier.

The upper middle portions of the upper side walls II are provided with U-cuts I4, which provide flanges I5 which are curled upwardly in the blank and inwardly in the completed carrier, thus forming with the bight ID a smooth substantially cylindrical handle. The lower portions of the upper side Walls I I are provided with a plurality of bottle-receiving openings I6, here shown as six in all.

The bottom sections I3 of the bottle carrier blank are provided with embossings H, which in the completed carrier lie beneath the bottlereceiving openings IS in the upper side walls II of the carrier and have outwardly-downwardly extending internal and external surfaces.

Each of the bottom sections I3 of the bottle carrier blank is provided with a tab l8 and a slot I9 by means of which the bottom sections are joined together in the completed carrier. The longitudinal marginal edges of the blank are provided with lateral flanges 20 which are continuous along each upper side wall I I and the adjoining lower side wall I2 and bottom section I3 and which flanges maintain these parts rigidly connected together both in the blank form and in the completed carrier.

It will readily be seen that the prefabricated blanks illustrated in Figures 4 and 5 may be compactly nested together as in Figure 4 for convenience in storing and shipping. When it is desired to complete the bottle carriers for use, each blank is manually bent in its medial bight I0 until the bottom sections l3 abut, and the tabs l8 are inserted into the corresponding slots I9 and bent over and'clinched to secure the bottle carrier in completed form.

In use, bottles 2| are inserted through the bottle-receiving openings I6 and are supported on the embossings I! in the bottom of the carrier. As best seen in Figures 2 and 3 the outwardlydownwardly sloping internal surfaces of the embossed bottle-supports I1, together with the upwardly-outwardly sloping lower side walls I2 of the container of the bottle carrier, support the bottles 2| in upwardly-outwardly tilted positions so as to increase the spaces between the tops of the bottles and the handle of the bottle carrier. Ample space is thus provided between the handle and the rows of bottles on either side thereof for insertion of the fingers to grasp the handle of the carrier as illustrated at the top of Figure 3. By thus providing ample space on both sides of the handle, it is not necessary that the handle project above the tops of the bottles. The handle is therefore, and as shown, made of a height equal to or less than that of the bottles, and by reason thereof the bottle carriers may be stacked as seen in Figure 3. The stacks of carriers thus formed are especially stable because the external upwardly-inwardly extending portions of the bottoms of the stacked carriers embrace the sloping tops of bottles in the carriers therebeneath.

It will thus been seen that the invention provides a novel bottle carrier fabricated from a single metal sheet in such manner that it may be compactly nested with other such carriers for storage or shipment, and that in use the carriers may be stacked and removed from stacks in an easy and convenient manner.

While but one specific embodiment of the invention has been herein shown and described, it will be understood that the spirit of the invention comprehends all such modifications of the particular embodiment of the invention herein disclosed as fall within the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A bottle carrier comprising: a unitary elongated metal sheet bent transversely to form a medial bight adapted to serve as a handle for the carrier, upper sides sloping downwardly-outwardly from the bight, lower sides sloping downwardly-inwardly from the upper sides, and bottom sections extending mutually inwardly from the lower sides and joined together to form the bottom of the carrier; the lower portions of said upper sides being pierced to provide bottle-receiving openings therethrough, and the portions of said bottom beneath said bottle-receiving openings being upwardly embossed to provide outwardly-downwardly sloping bottle supports.

2. A bottle carrier comprising: a unitary elongated metal sheet bent transversely to form a medial bight, upper sides sloping downwardlyoutwardly from the bight, lower sides sloping downwardly-inwardly from the upper sides, and bottom sections extending mutually inwardly from the lower sides and joined together to form the bottom of the carrier; the upper middle portions of said upper sides having U-cuts therein providing flanges curled inwardly to form with the bight a handle for the carrier, the lower portions of said upper sides being pierced to provide bottle-receiving openings therethrough, and the portions of said bottom beneath said bottle-receiving openings being upwardly embossed to provide outwardly-downwardly sloping bottle supports.

3. A bottle carrier comprising: a unitary elongated metal sheet bent transversely to form a medial bight, upper sides sloping downwardly outwardly from the bight, lower sides sloping downwardly-inwardly 'from the upper sides, and bottom sections extending mutually inwardly from the lower sides and provided along their inner marginal edges with manually engaged taband-slot connections whereby said bottom sections are joined together to form the bottom of the carrier; the upper middle portions of said upper sides having U-cuts therein providing flanges curled inwardly to form with the bight a handle for the carrier, the lower portions of said upper sides being pierced to provide bottle-receiving openings therethrough, and the portions of said bottom beneath said bottle-receiving openings being upwardly embossed to provide outwardlydownwardly sloping bottle supports, and said metal sheet being bent laterally inwardly along the longitudinal marginal edges of the upper sides, lower sides and bottom sections to form strengthening border flanges.

4. A bottle carrier blank nestable with others of its kind, comprising: a unitary elongated metal sheet bent to form a transverse medial bight adapted to serve as the handle of the completed bottle carrier, side walls extending symmetrically obliquely outwardly from the opposite sides of the bight and provided with bottle openings therethrough, bottom sections extending symmetrically and reversely obliquely outwardly from the side walls respectively and provided with means adapting them for interconnection to form the bottom of the completed bottle carrier, the blank being of generally W-shaped longitudinal cross-section and thus adapted to nest with others of its kind, and the bight thereof being bendable so as to bring the bottom sections together to form a completed bottle carrier.,

5. A bottle carrier blank nestable with others of its kind, comprising: a unitary elongated metal sheet bent to form a transverse medial bight adapted to serve as the handle of the completed bottle carrier, side walls extending symmetrically obliquely outwardly from the opposite sides of the bight and provided with bottle openings therethrough, bottom sections extending symmetrically and reversely obliquely outwardly from the side walls respectively and provided with means adapting them for intercomiection to form the bottom of the completed bottle carrier, continuous laterally extending marginal flanges rigidly connecting each side wall with the adjacent bottom section along the adjoining edges thereof, the blank being of generally W-shaped longitudinal cross-section and thus adapted to nest with others of its kind, and the bight thereof being bendable so as to bring the bottom sections together to form a completed bottle carrier.

6. A bottle carrier blank nestable with others of its kind, comprising: a unitary elongated metal sheet bent to form a transverse medial bight adapted to serve as the handle of the completed carrier, upper side walls extending symmetrically obliquely outwardly from the opposite sides of the bight and provided with bottle openings therethrough, lower side walls extending symmetrically outwardly from the upper side walls respectively, and bottom sections extending symmetrically and reversely obliquely outwardly from the lower side walls respectively and provided with means adapting them for interconnection to form the bottom of the completed bottle carrier, the blank being of generally W-shaped longitudinal cross-section and thus adapted to nest with others of its kind, and the bight thereof being bendable so as to bring the bottom sections together to form a completed bottle carrier.

ERVIN G B. MORGAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Laier Dec. 5, 19 50 

